Civometry

MPs’ business costs

Sir Desmond Swayne

IPSA paid £1,423,936 against 1,191 published rows for Sir Desmond Swayne between 2010-11 and 2025-26 as the member for New Forest West CC. These are the costs of running an office and employing staff under IPSA’s rules. They are not salary, and the largest part of them is wages IPSA pays to the member’s employees rather than money the member receives.

By category, 2019-20

63 claims, £81,307 paid. The headings are IPSA’s own categories grouped; the categories inside each are named on the register page.

CategoryWhat it coversClaimsPaidShare
StaffingThe salaries and employment costs of the people an MP employs to run their office and casework. IPSA pays these directly; they are not money an MP receives.2£73,45190.3%
Office costsRenting and running a constituency office: rent, utilities, equipment, stationery and postage.35£3,4314.2%
AccommodationThe cost of somewhere to stay for an MP whose constituency is far enough from Westminster that IPSA's rules allow it. An MP representing a London seat is not eligible on the same terms.24£2,9233.6%
TravelJourneys between the constituency and Westminster and within the constituency. Until 2018-19 IPSA published one travel category; from 2019-20 it publishes travel by the MP, by staff and by a dependant separately.2£1,5011.8%

Every year in the register

Sir Desmond Swayne’s own years, not the register’s: the first is 2010-11 and the last is 2025-26. Figures are not adjusted for inflation, so a rise between two distant years is partly a rise in prices. Select a year to read it on its own.

YearClaimsStaffingOffice costsAccommodationTravelMiscellaneousTotal
2010-1189£60,080£2,607£3,134£2,224—£68,045
2011-12101£79,404£2,441£2,714£2,202£134£86,894
2012-13101£80,717£2,425£3,095£2,267—£88,505
2013-14104£79,811£2,780£3,766£1,885—£88,242
2014-1599£75,303£2,329£3,831£2,765—£84,228
2015-1679£72,884£5,287£2,788£543—£81,502
2016-1786£74,352£3,003£3,468£1,435—£82,258
2017-1874£85,455£2,715£2,614£948—£91,733
2018-1977£79,911£2,770£3,472£1,114—£87,267
2019-2063£73,451£3,431£2,923£1,501—£81,307
2020-2173£101,792£8,650£4,718£1,596—£116,757
2021-2269£93,231£6,055£3,200£1,349—£103,834
2022-2358£99,552£5,125£4,739£1,607—£111,023
2023-2454£104,620£4,942£3,935£1,691—£115,188
2024-2542£115,190£9,181£3,658£1,796—£129,825
2025-2622—£2,623£4,705——£7,328

A year in which Sir Desmond Swayne joined or left the House part-way through is a part year, and is not comparable with a full one.

What each category is made of, 2019-20

The cost types IPSA records inside each heading, largest first by what it paid.

Staffing

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Payroll1£70,318
Pooled staffing services1£3,133

Office costs

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Software & applications2£1,500
Mobile telephone - contract & usage12£601
Landline phone & internet - rental & usage4£506
Stationery & printing1£342
Advertising and contact cards11£317
Maintenance, Redecorations & Repairs1£65

Accommodation

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Hotel - London24£2,923

Travel

Cost typeClaimsPaid
Rail2£1,501

Largest claims, 2019-20

The 15 rows IPSA paid most against, with IPSA’s own description of each. Read the description before the amount: IPSA publishes most of a member’s staffing as one row for the whole year — “Total Staffing budget payroll costs for the ⟨year⟩ year” — so the largest row here is usually a year of wages for the member’s employees and not something bought.

DateCategoryCost typeDescriptionClaimedPaid
31 March 2020StaffingPayrollTotal Staffing budget payroll costs for the 2019-20 year£70,318£70,318
15 May 2019StaffingPooled staffing servicesPolicy Research Unit (Conservative)£3,133£3,133
31 March 2020MP TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2019-20£1,191£1,191
15 May 2019Office CostsSoftware & applicationsPRU PART 1 2019-2020£900£900
26 February 2020Office CostsSoftware & applicationsannual support fee for Caseworker£600£600
20 December 2019AccommodationHotel - LondonParliament sitting£438£438
24 March 2020AccommodationHotel - LondonParliament sitting. [***] [***] [***]£385£385
20 March 2020Office CostsStationery & printingPrinter Cartridges: i-tel£342£342
31 March 2020Staff TravelRailAggregated figure for travel during 2019-20£310£310
28 April 2019Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£182£182
28 January 2020Office CostsLandline phone & internet - rental & usageLandline£130£130
26 February 2020AccommodationHotel - LondonHouse Sitting: [***] [***] [***]£105£105
26 February 2020AccommodationHotel - LondonHouse Sitting: [***] [***] [***]£105£105
30 January 2020AccommodationHotel - London[***]: parliament sitting£105£105
30 January 2020AccommodationHotel - London[***]: parliament sitting£105£105

Claims refused and money repaid, 2019-20

1 claim carries an amount IPSA did not pay or an amount repaid to it: £0 not paid and £53 repaid. A refusal is not a finding of wrongdoing — most are claims outside the scheme’s rules, or submitted without the evidence IPSA requires — and it is shown because leaving it out would show only the money that went out.

What this page does not show

Whether any of it was justified. IPSA accepted these claims under its own rules and the register records what was paid, not whether it should have been. A large total is not a finding about the member.

Nor how Sir Desmond Swayne compares with another member. After staffing the largest headings are accommodation and travel, and both are decided mostly by where a constituency is: a member several hundred miles from Westminster is eligible for costs a member with a London seat is not. Two members’ totals are two sets of rules as much as two sets of choices, and the length of service differs too.

It is also not pay. IPSA sets and publishes MPs’ salaries separately and they are not in this register; the staffing figure here is the salaries of the member’s employees.

All MPs’ business costs · Sir Desmond Swayne’s register of interests and votes · Sources